The author Rick Warren who wrote the book 'Purpose Driven Life', writes about his wife having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview by Paul Bradshaw.
Rick: People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond, In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act...the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you fi gure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ- likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys; you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72 First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call 'The Peace Plan' to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? ...OR...am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, 'God, if I don't get anyt hing else done today, I want to know You more and love You better.' God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am, than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.Painful moments, TRUST GOD.Every moment, THANK GOD.____________________________________________________________
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Amen, we all know it but we forget. Thanks for the remiender, and a little guilt, knowing I could do so much more.
I have seen a couple of interviews with this guy and he does make some really good points. Even if you don't believe in God, I think that we can all use the reminder not to wallow in our problems and disappointments but to focus on the good things that we have in our lives.
That was my thought. I know for me I tend to forget that I do have a pretty good life going on. I sometimes get way too focused on all the things I don't have and forget I have a much more comfortable life than a lot of people out there.
I think God should let him spend his money cause he can't take it with him when he is dead. And yes be a good person and realize that you have it much better than a lot of people :)
It sounds like he is spending his money, and giving a good portion of it away too!
I'm sure there are people out there who look at the money this guy is suddenly making and think he has it made, not knowing the struggles his wife is having. I think it just proves that everyone has ups and downs. He would probably give all the money away if it would restore his wife's health.
I have always thought it would be cool to have money to give away. I have a whole list of people and places I would like to be able to just hand money to.
Maybe I should write a book. LOL
I think that you should write a book!
I am not to keen on this guy, but I guess if he makes you all feel good then he is not all that bad.
I have a natural tendency to automatically assume that anyone that has a religious agenda might just be lying! I can't help but think that the world would be a better place without organized religion, just my opinion.
I am sure this guy has an interesting story and has learned some amazing things but he is quite controversial so I just can't swallow it without getting that bitter taste in my mouth. Maybe I overanalyze to much!
I think that if you totally take God out of the article it is still a great humanitarian story.
To me the message in the article is that one of our most important purpose's as human beings is to help, support, and serve one another.
Ang wants to practice medicine to alleviate suffering, Denise, Jo and Colton helped an old lady who needed a project done just last week. I think that it is completely true that we are happiest when we lose ourselves in helping others. That was what I took from this particular story that I wanted to share.
Post a Comment